Darkest Destiny
by ShinyVampiricArmor
Summary: Edward found her in the middle of her transformation, but she isn't normal even by the standards of a vampire. She cries. She sleeps and she can only live on human blood. Who is this strange red-headed girl living with the Cullen family? Why is she so different from them? What is her connection to the Volturi? Read and find out for yourself. Rated T for violence and subject matter.
1. The Life of the Dead

**Disclaimer: **Do I look like Stephanie Meyer? Wait... you can't see me. Well I'm not her so I don't own Twilight.

**Author's Note: **This is a re-post of a story I had up for a while but deleted for some unknown reason... Oh well. Hope you like it!

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**Darkest Destiny**

**Chapter One**

**The Life of the Dead**

Heat. Fire. I was on fire. It was so intense that I found it hard to focus on anything else. I was laying on something soft… grass maybe? But how did I get here and why was I on fire? I couldn't think. The fire was too much. I could hear people around me, but why weren't they trying to put out the fire… or were they the ones who set it? I couldn't remember.

It sounded like there was a party, but it was hard to focus from the pain. "Rejoice brothers and sisters!" Someone shouted from nearby. Was it a family gathering? "Derik has completed his task. Behold our newest sister!" Derik… who…

Cold. Something cold as ice touched me, relieving the fire for a moment as I felt myself being lifted from the grass. The cold was quickly forced away as the fire spread over my body, forcing me to cry out in pain. Surely I would be dead soon. That would be nice. Anything would be better than this eternal fire… Maybe I was already dead, but was in Hell? Had I died? I couldn't remember… I couldn't remember anything.

Voices. I could hear voices. They were so distant. I tried to focus on them and push the fire from my mind. If I didn't think about the fire then maybe I wouldn't feel it.

The pain never lessened, but the voices slowly came into focus. "Do you know what happened to her?" A man asked as I tried to force my eyes open, but found that they already were. It was so dark that I couldn't tell.

Suddenly a person appeared before me. He was tall. Bronze hair… bright caramel colored eyes… pale skin… he was beautiful. He smiled crookedly at me before turning and walking. I didn't want him to leave. How could he leave me here alone when I was on fire?

Slowly all memories of the party faded as I forced my body to move through the fire. It hurt and I screamed, but I had to follow him… I didn't understand why, but he would lead me out of this darkness.

Suddenly I found myself in a dark room. I was lying on bed and my eyes focused on someone standing nearby. "I only saw her after you smelled her blood. She seemed to come out of nowhere." a female voice said, but I ignored it. My eyes were on him. He saved me.

He was looking back at me, a sense of urgency in his caramel eyes, "Do you know what happened to you?"

I wanted to tell him that I didn't know anything, but just as I opened my mouth a burst of fire forced me to let out a scream, but something came to mind. A face. A boy. He couldn't be any older than thirteen years old, but he looked so fierce. Dark eyes that held such malice. What could have made this child so…

A tall blonde entered my line of sight then. The fire was becoming too much again and I was slowly losing focus of my surroundings as he spoke to me. I couldn't hear what he said, but from the way his mouth moved I would guess it was something like "It is okay." I had to focus again. I couldn't return to that darkness. I tried to listen as the blonde spoke again, but was only able to hear the end of what he said. "Do your best not to think of the pain."

Don't think about the pain… great. I could do that if every time I tried to focus on anything else I wasn't pulled into blackness. Suddenly something ice cold touched my face, instantly cooling the fire a bit. "You will be fine. We will help you when the pain goes away."

The fire was cool enough that I could think clearly for a moment. The boy's face came to mind again, but this time I remembered his name. Derik. His name was Derik. But how did I know that? I couldn't remember ever seeing the boy before, yet I knew his name was Derik.

A wet cloth was brushed across my face, but I barely noticed it through the fire. "Who is Derik?" the one who saved me asked. He can... hear me? He knew what I was thinking? I needed to focus. I had to remember. Take it. I thought to him as I held my hand out, careful not to disrupt the one who was helping me. With brief hesitation he gently grabbed my hand. The cold… calms… the flame. Such pain. I must focus.

"Do you know what happened to you?" he asked me softly. I'm on fire, what more is there to know? The blackness began to surround me again, but I tried to fight it and focus on the cold hand, unfortunately it wasn't working. The fire began to burn more and I couldn't stop the scream as Derik's face entered my mind again. Derik! He was the key. I had to focus on him and I would know what happened. But… I don't know…

Suddenly, everything around me became unfocused as I seemed to be drifting into two different worlds… or that's the way I felt anyway. Derik was standing in front of me. He smiled, but it wasn't kind or friendly. It was full of venom and hate. I didn't have time to react as he moved at me. He moved faster than anything I had ever seen and ripped into my neck with his teeth. Blood was the only thing that I could see after that.

And then, just as suddenly I was back in the dark room. My memories were fading quickly. I had to tell him. He attacked me… I can't remember… why can't I remember? There was blood… so much blood… Pain. Fire. I can't focus. The pain is too much. I have to remember. The fire nearly consumed me now. I have to focus on Derik. Remember Derik.

Derik… night time… it was dark… there was blood… So much blood… he attacked… and pain… fire… I can't… please… make it stop. The fire is too much… I can't focus.

"It's okay." Someone soothed and my eyes focused on him again. The one that saved me. "Don't think about what happened to you. Just think about happy things."

Happy? What was happy about being on fire? I heard myself screaming… it was such a pained sound. I had to be dying. Someone said something… a female I think, but the pain was too much for me to think about anything else.

Something cold touched my face enough to die down the flame a bit. I couldn't hear myself scream anymore. "Hey," the one who saved me said in a soft, soothing voice. "I know that it is hard, but I need you to try not to think about the pain. Think of your most happy memory. Focus on that and not on the pain." He said as his cold hand seemed to tighten over mine.

But, I don't have a happy memory. I can't… I only remember there being blood. The pain… such pain caused by Derik. The darkness that threatens to surrounds me and more blood… pain… and darkness… and then you saved me by leading me here. But I don't… I can't remember. What is wrong with me? I'm losing them… my memories… Who is Derik?

I can't stand the pain! Fire… I'm on… fire… the pain… I have to be… I'm burning… I'm going to… die… death would be nice right about now.

"Carlisle something's wrong!" my savior screamed as the pain increased. My heart was beating so fast that I was sure it would burst from my chest and I seemed to lose all control of my body.

"She's going to shock. The venom must have reached her heart. All we can do is wait for the transformation to stop." Someone said as a bright light entered my line of sight. Was I dying and this was the fabled bright light at the end of the tunnel? But there was no tunnel… and I could still feel the flame. It was burning so hot now. I couldn't focus on anything else. I closed my eyes to keep the light away and to try and will the pain away, but I knew it wouldn't help. Why wasn't I dead yet?

As if on cue I could feel myself drifting, drifting away from everything but the pain. I'm dying. This pain… I have to be dying… My heart… I can't… I don't… want to die… I didn't get to… thank him…

"You're going to be okay." My savior's voice called, cutting through the flame in my head. "You aren't dying."

He may have cut through the flame in my head, but he's lying. He has to be. No one could live through this pain. He's only trying to make it easier. As if death was easy…

"Carlisle, is it over?" A woman asked, but I didn't open my eyes to see who.

No it's not over. I'm still alive, but the pain is going away… I'll be dead soon.

"It should not be long now." Someone answered the lady. That was when I noticed that I couldn't really feel the pain at all. Was I dead now? Were these new voices angels or demons? I wish I didn't have to die before telling the one that saved me thank you.

Everything around me grew quiet, there were no voices anymore… maybe those two were just the last voices I was ever going to hear. What will I see if I open my eyes then? The eternal blackness that I was saved from? I don't think I would be able to stand that blackness… it was almost like there was something moving in that blackness… I never wanted to be there again. I was panicking… but who wouldn't be? I was dead right… who wouldn't panic and be afraid at the thought of being dead?

Slowly all of my emotions were lifted and only calm was left. Must be the power of being dead. Calm was nice, almost made me want to open my eyes and see what was the afterlife. Almost. I wasn't quite ready for that yet, but then when would I ever be?

A sudden burst of courage was all it took and my eyes fluttered open. I was in a dark room surrounded by people… or were they statues… none of them were moving. And then I saw _him._ "You…" I managed to say, but my voice didn't sound right… it sounded hoarse and foreign. What sort of accent was that? "You're the one that saved me? How am I…? I thought I was…" dead. I had to of died, but how was I still here? Was I already dead when I was brought here?

"You are not dead." My savior said simply.

I'm not dead? How am I not dead? I have to be… I was burned from the inside out. There was no way anyone could have survived that.

"What is your name?" Someone asked and I looked at him. It was the one who had the wet cloth. He stepped back from me when I looked at him, almost as though he was afraid… or perhaps overly cautious that I might attack him or something. He didn't look the type to be scared easily.

What did he ask? My name? What is my name? Surly I had to have a name. I tried to focus on finding it, but there was nothing in my brain… fragments of books I had read, tales I had heard, how to use simple object, things like that were still there, but no memories of who I was or where I came from… I couldn't remember my name. Did that mean I didn't exist? If I were dead then I would at least know my own name… wouldn't I?

"She doesn't know." The one who saved me answered for me as I looked down at the cement floor.

"Are you okay? Do you know what has happened to you?" the blonde asked me and I looked back at him. How could I answer his question? I didn't remember anything but pain.

"I… I was in so much pain… All I remember is pain… and blood… there was so much blood." Blood… the word seemed to trigger something in my mind as my throat began to burn intensely, but not as intensely as the fire I had felt before. I still wasn't sure if I was dead or not, but… Blood… my throat… I think I… need blood.

I ignored that thought because it was insane as the blonde walked over to me and reached a cautious hand for me to take. "Okay, let's get you upstairs and I can explain a few things to you."

"I… I don't feel right." That was an understatement. I felt like a stranger in my own body. Something was wrong… I might not have been able to remember anything, but I knew I shouldn't feel so… strange. My throat was burning and the thought of blood was constantly pushing to the front of my mind like I needed it… I know that my body wanted to feel anger, but all I could feel was calm… it was so strange. What was wrong with me?

A cold hand touched my shoulder and I looked at it, noticing that I had red hair as it fell down my back, "Nothing is wrong with you." My savior said and I looked at him. He was giving me a reassuring smile. "You've simply changed. Your body doesn't feel right because it's a new change and it's trying to adjust. You will be perfectly fine, all you need is time.

"You can hear what I'm thinking?" I asked before I could stop my mouth… that felt familiar at least. He nodded at me and I glanced around at the others. Could they all hear what I was thinking? Somehow that thought terrified me… Oddly I didn't mind knowing that the one that saved me could hear my thoughts, but the others… I didn't want them in my head especially when I didn't know what was there.

"I'm the only one here that can hear your thoughts." My savior said as he gently squeezed my shoulder to get my attention back to him.

"How?" I asked again before my mind could tell my mouth to shut up. Something told me that this happened often with me.

My savior let his hand drop from my shoulder as he began to explain how he was able to hear my thoughts. "When I changed, like you have changed, something in my mind changed different and I am able to hear the thoughts of other people." His caramel eyes drifted over to the blonde. "Carlisle would be better to explain everything to you." He said as he took a step back.

I looked back at the blonde who was still standing with his hand out to me. Again he looked like a statue to me… was it not uncomfortable to stand in one position for so long? "You're Carlisle?" I asked. It would be nice to call him something other than 'the blonde.' I looked at his face for the first time and the first thing I noticed was the caramel eyes. They were the same as my savior's. I wonder what his name is… and now that I know he can hear my thoughts it's just plain odd to call him my savior… I glanced at him to notice he had a slight grin on his face and instantly wanted to shoot myself in the foot. Maybe him hearing my thoughts wasn't such a good idea…

"I am." Carlisle said, gaining my attention back to him as he finally dropped his hand. "You must be uncomfortable. Has your throat started burning yet?" he asked me with a warm smile and I was oddly reminded of a doctor… or a mad scientist I wasn't quite sure.

How did he know that my throat was burning though? I looked back at the cement floor, unsure of what to say. "What does it mean?" I finally asked when the silence became too much and the thoughts of blood were all consuming. "What's wrong with me?" I whispered.

A different cold hand touched my shoulder then and I looked up to Carlisle. "Nothing is wrong with you. The burning simply means that you need blood. It will go away in time." He explained with an odd look of relief mixed with confusion in his eyes.

I need blood? "What…" I swallowed, attempting to swallow the uncomfortable burn. "What do you mean I need blood?" I couldn't help but look back at my savior, but something else caught my eye there were two more people standing near the doorway. A very short and oddly bright looking girl was holding the hand of a somber looking boy with honey blonde hair. He almost looked like a soldier of sorts. The boy had the same caramel colored eyes as Carlisle and my savior, but the girl's eyes were dark. I had noticed the woman standing just behind Carlisle and looked to her, curious about her eyes. They were the same caramel.

Carlisle pulled his hand back from my shoulder and I looked at him again. "You are no longer human." He said simply.

I couldn't help but blink at him. Of course I was human… wasn't I? My body did feel strange and the burning in my throat was driving me mad… not to mention I keep thinking about blood. If I wasn't human and I couldn't think of anything but blood then that meant…. "What do you mean I'm not human? What am I then?" I asked, even I could hear the shake in my voice as I was afraid of what he would say next.

That fear seemed to die a bit as Carlisle smiled at me, sympathy clear in his expression. I couldn't help but wonder why my emotions were acting strangely. I wanted to be angry. To be sad. To be scared, but I couldn't be anything other than calm… "You need to drink blood in order to survive," Carlisle started to explain, "so I suppose the best term to describe what you now are is vampire." He said the word with a hint of disdain and my eyes widened though I had already guessed at the term he would use.

I thought on the bits of a tale called Dracula a moment as I looked at him. "You… you mean I'm…" I swallowed as my emotions threatened to change again, I could feel the fear rising in my stomach trying to push its way through the calm. "I have to _kill _people?" I took a deep breath as my face began to heat slightly. I could feel tears welling in my eyes, but I tried to hold them back, to pull on that calmness that was slowly being consumed by fear.

The woman behind Carlisle stepped up so that she was next to him. "Oh no dear, you won't have to hurt anyone." She said in a very motherly like tone that made me wonder if I had a mother at all. "We have found other ways to live. You will have no need to spill human blood."

My eyes darted to her as I continued to try and hold back my tears. "Then… how will I live? I'm a… Vampire." Saying the word was the trigger and the world around be became tinted red. All sense of that calmness was ripped away as my body was consumed by fear. "I'm a monster…" I whispered as my vision became as red as the blood I was craving.

"No!" Someone screamed, but I couldn't really see and I didn't care. I pulled myself back onto the bed and hugged my knees, flinching when I heard a thunderous crash from where I assumed my savior was standing. "Calm down dude" an unfamiliar male voice said. How many vampires were in this house? There were five here with me and now him that made six… Merlin I was in a coven. Had they been the ones to turn me? Why would they do that?

Slowly I closed my eyes as the overwhelming calmness began to wash over me again. I laid back, glad that the fear was gone. I wanted to talk to someone, to find out more about these other ways to live, but I couldn't get my body to move as a wave of exhaustion hit me. Odd. I didn't think vampires slept… but I couldn't stop myself from falling asleep.

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**Author's Note:** What's this? A vampire that can sleep? What's going on? Wait for the next chapter and find out! R&R please!


	2. The Cullen Clan

**Disclaimer: **Do I look like Stephanie Meyer? Wait... you can't see me. Well I'm not her so I don't own Twilight.

**Author's Note: **Thank everyone who reviewed! :) If you didn't review thank you anyway for taking the time to read my work. It really means a lot. :D Now, let's find out more about this strange vampire girl found on the Cullen's steps.

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**Darkest Destiny**

**Chapter Two**

**The Cullen Clan**

_I found myself once again surrounded by darkness, but I wasn't alone. I could feel the presence of someone… or something else moving around me, circling me as though I was prey. Desperately, I turned and scanned for a way out of the darkness. I didn't want to be there… never in my life… or death would I want to be there. _

_"She's afraid." I heard someone say, though distant. Instantly I ran in the direction I heard the voice. It was a male voice with a slight drawl to it, but as I grew closer to where I had heard it that strange calmness began to engulf me again._

_"Weren't we all?" I heard someone else say. This voice I instantly recognized as my savior._

_"I can't calm her." The first voice said. "Can you hear anything from her? Is she dreaming?" he asked as I desperately tried to run towards their voices, to find my way out of the eternal blackness._

_"Nothing. I can't hear anything at all. Haven't been able to since she fell asleep." My savior said as a small orb of light in the distance entered my line of sight. That was it. My way out of the darkness. I sprinted for it._

_"Hope. She feels hopeful all of a sudden." The first voice paused. "Edward, she must be dreaming something for her emotions to change like this."_

_The orb of light grew bigger as I moved closer and I could just barely make out my savior standing over a bed with the other boy… the tall soldier like one standing next to him. On the bed was a red haired girl with blood stained cheeks… was that me?_

_"If she is, it's nothing that I can pick up. It's almost as though she is brain dead." My savior… what had the tall one called him? Edward? Said._

_The red haired girl I assumed was me shifted in her sleep just as something grabbed my hair and pulled me back. "NO!" I screamed as I reached for the orb of light that was again growing smaller._

_"That's odd… she just said 'No.' in her mind… but it sounded distant." Edward said as the orb nearly vanished from sight._

_"Her emotions are going crazy… she's scared more than anything, but she's also in pain and confused. Edward… I'm worr-" the voices stopped then and whatever had grabbed me released me._

_I whipped around to find myself face to face with Darkness… literally. She looked like darkness personified. The area around me began to lighten into a deep grey so that I could see her more clearly. She had hair that was dark and flowed almost as though it was in a current of sorts. Her eyes were the same black, but mixed with purple. There was no white in her eyes to speak of. Her skin was an ash blue color and she seemed to be naked. Great. Naked Darkness…_

_"How have you entered my realm?" She asked… her voice was different. It almost sounded as though there were two people speaking from one body, but not quite… it was actually quite mystical._

_"I don't know what you mean." I replied._

_She began to pace around me and I began to turn so that my eyes never left her, though I was certain she could make herself vanish into the now grey darkness around her. "You are different from the others that come here. Your body still lives in the realm of light, but your mind ventures here to my realm and with it; it brings a darkness that I have not felt for many millennia." She stopped circling me and examined me closely. "You are the bringer of death and destruction. Your existence should not be yet. The end is not supposed to happen for a while yet." She tilted her head curiously at me._

_I looked at her with deep confusion. "Who are you? Why did you stop me from leaving?" I asked, managing to muster a bit of courage despite her intimidating look._

_A malice filled smile crept upon her dark lips, "Who I am you have already guessed. I am the Darkness around you personified. As to why I stopped you, that was not me. You stopped yourself."_

_Great… she speaks in riddles… why did a comic book come to mind all of a sudden? "I don't understand."_

_"Those who know nothing can understand nothing. This is not your first time in my realm child, and it will not be your last… though I fear the next we meet you will bring the end." She said before the darkness completely vanished._

I snapped my eyes open to find that I was back in the room, lying on the bed. I couldn't remember anything about my dream other than that strange darkness… I tried to hold onto whatever I had been dreaming about, but the only thing I could remember was someone telling me I was the bringer of death and that I shouldn't exist… what the heck was I dreaming about?

And then it hit me. Burning. My throat was burning for blood and I started to feel nauseous. I didn't think vampire's got sick, but then I didn't think they slept either… but if this was the hunger for blood how would I survive around any humans? I suppose the true question was how would any humans survive around me?"

"It should get easier with time." A soft even voice said from behind me, surprising me into jumping off of the bed and looking to see who it was. It was my savior… For some reason the name Edward came to mind when I looked at him, but I wasn't sure why… he was standing in the doorway crouched defensively as though I was going to attack him.

I held my hands up in a very non-threatening way, "I'm not going to attack you." I told him.

His caramel eyes seemed oddly sad as she stood straight and looked at me. "I almost wish that you were acting aggressive towards any of us." He said faintly. "If you were acting aggressive we would have something to go on." He sent me a very slight smile, "And how did you know my name?"

I blinked at him… his name… Edward was really his name? He nodded… how odd... How did I know that? I was certain that no one said his name while I was awake before… but then something else registered in my mind. "You _want_ me to be aggressive?" I questioned, ignoring the fact that I mysteriously knew his name.

"It would mean that something was normal about you… well as normal as our kind gets. You're different than we are or any of our kind that we have met." Edward explained as he took a few steps into the rather large and open room that housed only a bed.

I bit my bottom lip… something else that felt familiar. "So I'm a freak amidst freaks. That's good to know." I whispered as I looked down at the cement floor… which had become oddly beautiful for a cement floor… it even had a face and black hair. I blinked. Black hair flowing as if in a current… why was that familiar to me? I shook my head and refocused my eyes to find that it was in fact a girl I was looking at… though she was very short. I recognized her from when I was awake before. She was standing next to the tall soldier… I could have sworn that her eyes were dark then, but they were the same caramel colored eyes Edward and the others had now. Was that a trait of a vampire? Did I have them too?

"Hey!" The girl said in a slightly angry voice. "Being different doesn't make you a freak." She said sternly before her attitude changed completely and she was smiling up at me. "I should know since I can see the future." She said as she began to bounce in place… she was quite bubbly for a vampire… weren't they supposed to be dark and depressing or was I stereotyping?

I heard a soft laugh from behind the girl and looked up to see Edward. He appeared to be holding back from laughing loudly… had I thought something funny? I didn't think so…

"I'm Alice by the way." The girl said, drawing my attention back to her. "And you need a name since you don't have one… or rather you can't remember it." She smiled widely as her eyes glazed over and she appeared to be looking into some distant place. "Yes, you'll like that." She said after a moment and her eyes readjusted back to the world around her. "How does Zoey sound?" She asked with her head tilted to the side.

I blinked… I was being named like a pet or something? Was I their lab experiment now? Their test dummy for something?

"That's not what she meant." Edward said suddenly and I looked back at him. What did she mean then? I can't just be named Vampire X like I was some sort of toy. Edward's mouth went into a fine line. "No one here thinks of you that way. It's just…" He sighed, "Well, you do need a name… we can't just call you 'Hey girl' or 'you there.' If it will make you feel better, you can look through a book of names and chose one for yourself."

I bit my bottom lip again and looked down… right at Alice who was looking absolutely heartbroken. Her golden eyes were so sad that I'm sure she should be crying right now… I sighed and closed my eyes… I was overreacting to something simple. They wanted to give me a name to fit in and I threw it in their face. How horrible that must feel to them… How horrible that was of me.

I opened my eyes again and mustered a smile despite how guilty I felt. "I'm sorry Alice, Edward… that was… rude. I just… I guess I didn't understand." I smiled at Alice who already looked a million times happier. "Zoey sounds like an amazing name." I told her.

She smiled up at me brightly, "Great. Zoey Lynn Cullen it is then" She said before looking back at Edward. "Carlisle is in his office." She said before vanishing from the room in a rush.

What was she in a hurry for? I wondered as I again bit my bottom lip. Zoey Lynn Cullen… it was a nice name, but was it right for me? Did I look like a Zoey Lynn Cullen? I blinked at that thought. What did I even look like? I couldn't remember… I knew that I had red hair because I had seen it hanging around my face, but what did the rest of me look like?

"Zoey is the perfect name for you." Edward said suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts as I looked at him. He smiled slightly. "Do you want to go and see Carlisle now? I'm sure that he would be better to speak to at the moment."

Carlisle… the blonde who had the wet cloth. He did seem like the leader of the coven, but then so did the one that stood behind him.

"Esme." Edward answered my unasked question.

Esme the sweet motherly looking vampire. Carlisle the stern fatherly looking vampire. Alice the psychic and Edward the mind reader. Who else did that leave? Right the tall soldier looking one…

"Jasper." Again Edward answered my question. "There is also Rosalie and Emmet that you have not seen yet." He added.

Seven vampires… well eight counting me… in one house. Why do I feel like I'm part of a bad reality show called Vampire House? Guess I'm the newest house guest… Wonder what my first trial will be. That's right talking to Carlisle… about what I'm not sure, but talking to him.

I bit my bottom lip again as I stepped around the bed so that I was on the same side as Edward. "Lead the way." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

Edward nodded and we made our way up the stairs. Sunlight poured in when Edward opened the door and I stopped, looking down at the sunlight blocked by Edward's shadow as he stopped as well. Weren't vampires supposed to burn in the sun? But Edward was standing in it so he must not. I looked back up at him and gasped at what I saw. It almost looked like his body was made of diamonds with the way he was sparkling… well that or he got into a fight with glitter glue and lost…

He laughed at that and looked back at me. "Glitter glue?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged and motioned for him to keep walking. I greatly regretted that decision as he stepped out into the house and the sunlight hit me directly. Pain seared through my body and I instinctively jumped back down the stairs and out of the sunlight with a shriek of surprise and pain. The smell of burned skin was strong as I looked down at my hands and saw the skin seemed to have melted all the way up my arms. "What the…" I started, but could get no further as my hands were taken and examined.

I looked up to see Carlisle. "Close the door Edward." He ordered as he began gently run burn cream on my hands. Where did he get the burn cream? I wondered as the room became darker. No doubt because Edward had closed the door.

_Forever in Darkness._ A voice called in the back of my mind.

"What was that?" Edward asked as he appeared next to me. "It was like… another person's thought in your mind."

"Does this hurt?" Carlisle asked, giving Edward a stern look as he continued to rub cream over my burns.

I bit my bottom lip and looked between them both, unsure of who to answer. Well, since I didn't have an answer to Edward's question since I had no idea what that was I answered Carlisle. It's not like Edward couldn't hear the answer in my mind anyway. "It only hurt when the sun hit it."

He nodded and continued to work. "It's already starting to heal." His voice sounded rather amazed as he whipped off a bit of the cream he had already put on to reveal that my right hand was healed.

"What does this mean Carlisle?" Edward asked as he looked at my hand in amazement.

Carlisle was concentrating as he continued to wipe off the cream where my skin had healed. "I'm not sure Edward." He looked at my savior, "I know that you don't like it, but perhaps Aro would be able to help in this situation."

Edward looked angry at the mention of this Aro person. "I will not send her to them." he said sternly.

I pulled my hand away from Carlisle and crossed my arms, not caring about the cream that was still there getting on the blue shirt I was wearing it wasn't like I remembered putting it on anyway. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here." I snapped, unsure of where my sudden burst of anger was coming from, maybe I was finally becoming aggressive like Edward wanted. "I'm not some package that can be shipped away somewhere and I'd appreciate it if I weren't treated as if I were. I don't know, nor do I care who this Aro person is, but if you don't want me here that's fine. I'll leave. I don't need anyone to help me. I can handle myself." I ranted before running past them and within a second I was at the door to the basement. It was rather exhilarating to move so quickly.

I opened the door without thinking about how the sun had burned me and ran into a large kitchen. I stopped suddenly as my brain caught up to my body and realized I was standing in the middle of a sun filled room. Amazingly though, I wasn't burning like I had before. Nope, my hands and arms were completely healed… covered in burn cream, but healed. What was going on?

"That's what I'd like to know." Edward said from behind me as he and Carlisle followed me up the stairs. I turned to see that both were shining brightly in the sun which caused me to look at my arms again. I may not be burning, but I think it would be better than looking like I got into a fight with glitter glue… despite the fact that it added a sort of angelic beauty to both Edward and Carlisle. Nope, no sparkles. Good.

"Zoey?" A soft female voice asked from the other side of the room and I turned to see a woman with light brown hair. She too was sparkling and looked even more angelic than the boys. I recognized her as the one that was standing behind Carlisle in the basement-Esme. She smiled warmly and took a step towards me though being cautious. "No one thinks of you as a package dear. We simply want to help you." Her voice was kind and motherly and every fiber of my being wanted to trust her, but something was bothering me and I wasn't about to trust any of them until I knew the answer.

I turned back to Edward and Carlisle with a pointed look. "Why did you turn me into this… whatever I am?" I asked. I wasn't sure which one of them did it, but I didn't care. I had to know. "Why not just leave me to my life?"

Edward's lips were pressed into a fine line again and I got the feeling he had that look a lot. "We weren't the ones who turned you." He told me, but I wasn't sure I was quite ready to believe that. Why else was I here? Did one of the others in the house turn me or were there more nearby? "No." Edward answered quickly. "No one here turned you and there isn't another of our kind within miles. I found you in the forest. I wanted to save you from this life, but your transformation had already started."

A cold hand touched my shoulder then and I looked over to see Esme. "We had him bring you here so that we could help you adjust to this life and you wouldn't have to kill people needlessly." She told me and I couldn't help but trust her. She was too… motherly?

"But if it wasn't any of you that turned me… then who did and why? Why am I so different that the rest of you?" questions were building in my mind quicker than I could ask them.

"We aren't sure who turned you, but I have a guess that it was someone named Derik." Edward answered.

Derik? Why did that name sound familiar?

"Because you were thinking about him during your transformation." Edward answered before I could voice my question. "He attacked you, but that's all I know. Your thoughts were…hard to read then."

Hard to read… wonder what he meant by that. I'd have to ask him later, right now I still had one question that hadn't been answered. "Okay, so this guy-Derik-attacked me and turned me… but, why am I so different from the rest of you? I mean you said that I wasn't normal for a… vampire." Man that word was hard to say… "What did you mean?"

Carlisle stepped forward then. I turned my head to look at him. "When a human transforms, their body freezes into that moment and will never change again." He started to explain. He sounded like he had done this a few times. "We can't eat, cry, or sleep. Our skin becomes harder than stone and blood is the only thing we need to survive. There are certain things from our human life that-"

Suddenly Alice ran into the room, standing in front of me. "No time Carlisle. I'm sorry." She said quickly before grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the house quickly.

* * *

**Author's Note:** That was an interesting dream wasn't it? Any thoughts on it? What about Alice? What did she see that has her in such a rush? R&R Please!

By the way, I'm going to try and have an update every week or two weeks at the latest. ;)

-SVA


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